Rossetti Volunteers at St. Mary Magdalene's Penitentiary

In 1859, Christina Rossetti volunteered at St. Mary Magdalene’s Penitentiary, which was located in Highgate, London. The place was a refuge for “fallen women” who were considered female prostitutes or women who had intercourse out of wedlock. They provided shelter, and work, and taught them the ways in which they can go back to living within society. The women strived to achieve the rehabilitation that they needed in order to be socially acceptable once again. It is significant because it was rumored that this was the time in which she wrote the Goblin’s Market, which depicts the sense of being redeemed for the aspects that women have committed in their life.